Thriller

"No mere mortal can resist... the e-vil of the Thriller!"

— Vincent Price, Michael Jackson's "Thriller"

A thriller is a genre in visual media and literature which focuses on action, fast pacing, tension, and suspense. The conflicts are usually between desperate heroes and powerful antagonists who outmatch them by a large margin. Frequent location changes, time shortage, and Cliffhangers are extremely common.

Thrillers can overlap with almost any other genre. They are more defined by their plot and devices than by their content. They can be identified by the thrills the work gives to the reader or viewer.

Modern incarnations of Thrillers seem to overlap more and more often with the Horror and Science Fiction genres, leading to a misclassification of all Thrillers as being Horror, Science Fiction, or both.

Not to be confused with either the Michael Jackson album or the old Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, nor yet the 1970s British anthology series. Although the Michael Jackson music video does slightly fit in.

Subgenres

Medium subpages

Thriller Literature

Related genres

Tropes often associated with the genre

Cliffhanger
Mad Lib Thriller Title
The Reveal
Title In: Used to make sure the audience doesn't get confused by frequent location changes.
The Un-Reveal
What Cliffhanger

Examples

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Anime and Manga

Film

1BR
10 to Midnight
Thirteen Tzameti
21 Bridges
22 Bullets, overlapping with Action.
28 Days Later, overlapping with Horror.
.45
Accident
L'Accordeur
Act Ofvengeance, overlapping with Crime and Exploitation.
Acts of Vengeance (2017), overlapping with Action/Martial Arts.
Adam Chaplin
The Aggression Scale, overlapping with Action.
All the Money in the World
The Ambulance, also a comedy.
Angel (1984), overlapping with Action.
Anthropoid, overlapping with historical drama and war film.
Apartment Zero
Archenemy
Atomic Blonde, overlapping with Action.
Atomic Train
AWOL-72
Backcountry - overlaps with Horror.
The Bank, overlapping with drama.
Berkshire County
Berserk! (1967)
The Big Doll House
A Bittersweet Life
The Black Dahlia
Black Sunday, overlapping with Action.
Black Wake
Black Widow (1987)
Blooded
A Blueprint for Murder, overlapping with Film Noir.
Body
The Bourne Series, overlapping with Action.
The Boy Next Door
Brake
Buried
Burning Bright
The Call
The Castle of Fu Manchu
The Chain Reaction is a Thriller mixed with action and Disaster Movie elements.
Charade
Circle
The Clovehitch Killer
Code 8
Cold Comes the Night, a crime thriller.
Cold Sweat
The Colony (2016): Overlaps with historical drama.
Coma
Coming Home In The Dark
Confessions of a Psycho Cat
The Conspiracy, overlapping with Horror.
Criminal (2016)
Cry Wolf (1947)
The Cube series
- Cube, overlapping with Science Fiction and Horror.
- Cube 2: Hypercube
- Cube Zero
Cut To The Chase
Dark Asylum
The Dark Knight Trilogy is a Thriller mixed with superhero and neo-noir. Each of the movies qualifies in different ways:
- Batman Begins fits this genre in the second half of the movie, as the first half focused on Batman's origins.
- The Dark Knight is a crime Thriller throughout the whole movie.
- The Dark Knight Rises is a Thriller mixed with Disaster Movie elements.
Dark Waters
The Day the Earth Caught Fire, overlapping with Disaster Movie.
Death Weekend
Deep Gold
Detonator (2003)
Don't Breathe
Don't Hang Up
Downrange
Duel
Eloise
Escape Room (2017) - overlapping with Horror.
Even Lambs Have Teeth - overlaps with Horror.
Everly- overlapping with action.
Ex Machina, - overlapping with Science-Fiction.
The Face of Fu Manchu
Fair Game - overlapping with action.
Faster - overlapping with action.
Fatale
Femme Fatale
Final Girl - overlapping with action.
Freeway - overlapping with comedy.
Frozen (2010) - overlapping with action.
Getaway Plan
The Gift (2015) a psychological thriller
Goliath Awaits
The Good Doctor (2011)
Good Neighbors
The Guest , overlapping with Mystery and Action.
Hard Candy
Heat
Hell Drivers
Hidden
Highwaymen
Hit Team
Hounds of Love
The Hunt for Red October
The Hunted (1995)
The Immortals, overlapping with Action.
Intruders
I Saw What You Did
The Island (1980)
Jacob's Ladder, overlapping with horror.
Jack's Back, overlapping with Supernatural Thriller.
Jack the Ripper (1976)
John Doe: Vigilante
Julia X, overlaps with Horror.
Juncture
Jurassic Park
Level 16
The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
Little Woods
The Loft
A Lonely Place to Die
Low Tide
Killer Under The Bed
Kindergarten Cop, overlapping with comedy.
The Mad Magician
Man Vs, overlapping with science fiction and horror.
The Matrix, overlapping with Cyberpunk.
Men at Work (1990)
Mesrine
M.F.A.
Mom, a crime thriller overlapping with drama.
Money Monster
Monster Party, overlapping with horror.
Naked Fear
Nerve
No Escape
No Good Deed (2002)
No Tears for the Dead
Numb
The Occupant
Open Grave, overlapping with Horror.
Perfect Assassins, overlapping with Action and Mystery
The Phantom Express (1932), overlapping with Mystery.
Poison Ivy (1992)
Poker Night
The Power (1968), overlapping with Science Fiction.
Preservation, overlapping with Horror.
The President's Last Bang
Prisoners
The Professional, overlapping with Action and Criminal Procedural.
The Prowler (1951), overlapping with Film Noir.
The Purge (Franchise)
- The Purge, overlapping with Horror and Science Fiction.
- The Purge: Anarchy
- The Purge: Election Year
- The First Purge
- The Forever Purge
The Quiet
Quick
Rattle The Cage
Rear Window
Red Hill
Replicas
Reservoir Dogs, overlapping with Crime And Punishment.
Resurrection (1999), overlapping with Horror.
Rollercoaster, overlapping with Action.
Rolling Thunder, overlapping with crime, action and Exploitation Film.
The Room (2019)
The Roommate
Runaway Jury, overlapping with Crime and Punishment, and Law Procedural.
Run for the Sun, overlapping with Adventure.
A Score to Settle, overlapping with Action.
Scream and Scream Again, overlapping with Sci-Fi Horror.
Sea of Love
Self Defense
The Shadow Men overlapping with Science Fiction.
Shiri
Shooter
Shockwave
Shut In, overlapping with Horror.
Shuttle
The Silence of the Lambs, overlapping with Horror.
Siren (2010), a psychological thriller overlapping with horror.
Sisters of Death
The Sixth Sense
Skin Trade, overlapping with Action.
Sleepers
Sneakers
The Snowman (2017), overlapping with Horror.
Solace
Songbird
Son of a Gun
Split
Stag
Stay
Strangers on a Train
Suddenly
The Suppressor
Suspect
Surveillance
Swamp Shark
Targets
Ten Dead Men, overlapping with Action.
Tesis
The Thieves, overlapping with Action.
Ties That Bind (2006), overlapping with Drama.
Ties That Bind (2010), overlapping with Mystery and Crime.
Tiger House, overlapping with Crime.
Transit, overlapping with Action.
The Transporter, overlapping with Action.
Trap For Cinderella
Trauma Center
Triple Threat
Trust No 1
Unbreakable
Unthinkable
Vitals
Vivarium
Vows of Deceit - also known as Deadly Matrimony
Walled In
Welcome Home
Widows
Wild Things
Winterskin
The Wolf's Call , overlapping with Drama.
You Were Never Really Here
Youth of the Beast

Live-Action TV

Amerika
Awaken, overlapping with mystery.
Bosch
- Bosch: Legacy
Braquo
20 Minutes, overlapping with drama.
Cleverman
Colony, overlapping with drama and science fiction.
Dare Me, overlapping with drama and mystery.
Dark Hole, overlapping with science fiction.
Deutschland 83, overlapping with spy fiction.
The Devil Judge, overlapping with mystery.
D.P.
Dublin Murders
Fauda
FBI
- FBI: Most Wanted
- FBI: International
The Flight Attendant
Golden Years
Himmelsdalen, overlapping with crime drama.
The Last Empress, overlapping with mystery and romantic comedy.
Liar (2017), overlapping with crime drama.
Locked Up, overlapping with prison drama.
Medici: overlapping with historical fiction.
Mouse (2021), overlapping with mystery.
The Penthouse: War in Life overlapping with mystery and drama.
Priest (2018), overlapping with supernatural/horror.
Psychopath Diary, overlapping with comedy.
Reacher
Scandal, overlapping with politics and drama.
Shots Fired
Snowpiercer
Spotless
The Man in the High Castle
Six
Tehran
Tyrant
War of the Worlds (2019)

Web Video

The Hire

Video Games

Fast & Furious Crossroads
Fox Hunt
Gods Will Be Watching, a Point And Click thriller with some Science Fiction elements.
Metal Gear is a series where every installment tries to replicate feel of a thriller movie. Notably, pretty much every game features a nuclear threat, Metal Gear Solid ends with a typical thriller trope where you fight the main villain with your bare hands, and both Solid 1 and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty are based "Die Hard" on an X premise, where you're dopped alone - with no weapons - into a facility overtaken by terrorists.
Gunpoint attempts to create an interactive noir thriller, dropping the player into a near future town of West Point, which used to be a home of a thriving gun industry - but after a new gun control bill, industry has crashed and burned, and few remaining businesses became extremely ruthless to survive. Notably, the gameplay is based around outsmarting enemies and setting traps for them by hacking electric appliances, and game features mechanics that resemble thriller tropes, like ability to tackle people unarmed (even through a window, several floors down!) or hold them on gunpoint (as the title implies).
Late Shift
The Quiet Man
Blood & Truth